1 ARST After Jehoiakim had been ruling Judah for almost four years, Yahweh gave me this message for all the people of Judah. It was during the year that King Nebuchadnezzar started to rule in Babylon. BSB BSB: This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
2 ARST Jeremiah spoke this message to all the people in Jerusalem and other places in Judah: BSB BSB: So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows:
3 ARST “Yahweh has been giving me messages for twenty- three years. He started giving me messages when Josiah son of Amon, had been ruling Judah for almost thirteen years. And I have faithfully told you those messages, but you have not paid any attention to them. BSB BSB: “From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—twenty-three years—the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
4 ARST Many times Yahweh has sent to you the prophets who served him, but you have not listened to them or paid any attention to what they said. BSB BSB: And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear.
5 ARST Each time their message was this:‘Turn from all your evil behavior, from all the evil things that you have continually been doing. If you do that, you will be able to stay in this land that Yahweh gave to you and to your ancestors, to belong to you forever. BSB BSB: The prophets told you, ‘Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and deeds, and you can dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever.
6 ARST Do not cause Yahweh to become angry by serving and worshiping idols that you have made with your hands. If you do not cause him to be angry, he will not punish you.’ BSB BSB: Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’
7 ARST And Yahweh says,‘But you would not pay attention to the messages that I gave to those prophets. You caused me to become extremely angry by your worshiping idols that you had made with your own hands. That resulted in my punishing you. BSB BSB: ‘But to your own harm, you have not listened to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘so you have provoked Me to anger with the works of your hands.’
8 ARST So now, I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, say that because you have not paid attention to what I said, BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,
9 ARST I will gather all the armies of the nations that will come from the northeast. I have appointed King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to lead them. I have appointed him to do my work for me. I will bring those armies to attack this land, all the people living in it, and even nearby countries. I will completely destroy them, and cause them to be places that people are horrified about, and that people will ridicule, places that will be ruined forever. BSB BSB: behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
10 ARST I will cause happy singing and laughing to cease in your land. There will no longer be brides and bridegrooms talking joyfully. There will not be the sound of people grinding grain with millstones. There will be no lamps lit in your houses. BSB BSB: Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
11 ARST All of this land will become a desert where no one will live. And the people of Israel and of the nearby countries will be exiled to Babylonia and work for the kings of Babylon for seventy years. BSB BSB: And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 ARST Then, after they have been in Babylonia for seventy years, I will punish the king of Babylonia and his people for the sins that they have committed. I will cause Babylonia to become a wasteland forever. BSB BSB: But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.
13 ARST I will cause them to experience all the terrible things that Jeremiah has written about— all the punishments that he predicted will happen to all those nations. BSB BSB: I will bring upon that land all the words I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.
14 ARST The leaders of many nations will cause the people of Babylonia to become their slaves, like the people of Babylonia caused my people to become slaves. I will punish them like they deserve for having caused my people to suffer.’” BSB BSB: For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.’”
15 ARST Then Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave me a vision. In the vision he was holding a cup of wine. He said,“Take from me this cup that is full of wine that represents punishment. I will cause all the leaders of the nations to which I will send you to drink some of the wine in this cup. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
16 ARST When they drink the wine, they will stagger and act like crazy people, because they will realize that I will massacre many of their people with swords.” BSB BSB: And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.”
17 ARST So, in the vision, I took that cup full of wine from Yahweh, and I took it to all the nations to which he sent me, and caused the leaders of those nations to drink some of that wine. BSB BSB: So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, each one to whom the LORD had sent me,
18 ARST I went to Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah, and the king and the other officials drank some of the wine from that cup. And, starting from that day, they all eventually were removed from having authority, and became people whom others ridiculed, who were despised, and cursed. BSB BSB: to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials;
19 ARST In the vision Egypt had to drink some of the wine, including the king and his officials and many of his people, BSB BSB: Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officials, his leaders, and all his people;
20 ARST and foreigners who were living there. In the vision the land of Uz and the cities and kings of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod had to drink some of the wine. BSB BSB: all the mixed tribes; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines: Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
21 ARST Then the vision about the kings of Edom, Moab, and Ammon began. BSB BSB: Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;
22 ARST Then there were more visions about the kings of the cities of Tyre and Sidon across the Mediterranean Sea, about the kings who had to drink some of the wine. BSB BSB: all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea;
23 ARST In the vision the religious leaders of the cities of Dedan, Tema, and Buz, which were cities in Arabia and other distant places, they had to drink some of the wine. BSB BSB: Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair;
24 ARST In the vision other places in Arabia and the kings of tribes in the desert BSB BSB: all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert;
25 ARST and the kings of the Zimri, Elam, and Media people groups, BSB BSB: all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;
26 ARST and kings in countries to the north that are near to Israel and to countries that are far from Israel, one after the other— all the kingdoms in the world had to drink, and finally the king of Babylon had to drink some of the wine. BSB BSB: all the kings of the north, both near and far, one after another—all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshach will drink it too.
27 ARST Then in the vision Yahweh said to me,“Tell them that this is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God of Israel, says:‘Drink from this cup some of the wine that represents the punishment that I will give you. Drink a lot of it and become drunk and vomit. You will fall down and not get up again, because I will cause you to be killed in wars that I will send to you. BSB BSB: “Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’
28 ARST If any of those to whom you give this wine refuse to drink it, tell them that Yahweh, commander of the angel armies says that they must drink it. BSB BSB: If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘You most certainly must drink it!
29 ARST I am starting to bring disaster to my own people. They will not be exempt from punishment, for I am sending wars to all the nations on the earth. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, have said it.’ BSB BSB: For behold, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears My Name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of Hosts.’
30 ARST Now tell them all those things that I have said, and also say this to them:‘Yahweh will shout to them from the highest places like a lion roars! He will call out with a shout from the holy place where he lives! He will roar like a lion against his people because of their sins! Like those who shout so loudly when they are treading the grapes, he will shout so that everyone who lives on the earth can hear him! BSB BSB: So you are to prophesy all these words against them and say to them: ‘The LORD will roar from on high; He will raise His voice from His holy habitation. He will roar loudly over His pasture; like those who tread the grapes, He will call out with a shout against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 ARST Even people in very remote places around the earth will hear him shouting, because he will say why he will judge and punish all the nations. He will cause the wicked people to be slaughtered with swords. That will surely happen because Yahweh has said it.’ BSB BSB: The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth because the LORD brings a charge against the nations. He brings judgment on all mankind and puts the wicked to the sword,’” declares the LORD.
32 ARST Then tell them that this is what Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, says:‘Listen to this! Disasters will happen to one nation after another. Punishment from me will arise like a great storm from the most distant places on the earth. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth.”
33 ARST When that happens, the corpses of those whom I have caused to be slaughtered will fill the earth from the east to the west. And no one will mourn for them, and no one will gather their corpses to bury them. They will be scattered on the ground like manure. BSB BSB: Those slain by the LORD on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like dung lying on the ground.
34 ARST You evil leaders, they call out for someone to help them! You who were the leaders of my people, fell down and and they rolled in the dust. Now is time for you to be slaughtered! You will fall down and be shattered like a fragile vase shatters when it falls to the ground. BSB BSB: Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
35 ARST Those who should have taken care of my people will not find any place to hide; there will be no place for the leaders of my people to find safety. BSB BSB: Flight will evade the shepherds, and escape will elude the leaders of the flock.
36 ARST You are the ones who take care of my people now crying out for help, and those who were the leaders of my people they cry and beg for help— while I, Yahweh, am destroying your nation. BSB BSB: Hear the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for the LORD is destroying their pasture.
37 ARST Your peaceful meadows will become a wasteland because Yahweh will severely punish it. BSB BSB: The peaceful meadows have been silenced because of the LORD’s burning anger.
38 ARST Yahweh will leave his dwelling like a lion leaves its den to attack other animals, and he will cause your land to become desolate. He is very angry with you and will make your enemies angry at you.’” BSB BSB: He has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.